GOP complaint against Kitzhaber, Senator Courtney

Salem, Ore. – This morning, the Oregon Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission against John Kitzhaber and members of State Senate Democratic leadership for offering to sell access to big contributors to the agenda of the next session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly.“This ‘quid pro quo’ offered by Kitzhaber and the Senate Leadership as part of an exclusive, high-dollar private fundraiser restricted to only 15 participants is an outrage,” Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bob Tiernan said today. “An event, to ‘discuss potential session issues’ according to the invitation distributed by the Senate Democratic Leadership Fund, constitutes an offer to sell influence over the body that makes the laws which govern the rest of us,” Chairman Tiernan continued.

“Kitzhaber, the Democrat nominee for Governor and the Democratic Legislative Leadership are selling donors access to their Party’s legislative agenda. These backroom, closed-door deals are not the kind of openness in government that Oregonians expect of their Governor, or legislative leaders,” Tiernan continued.

“John Kitzhaber and the Senate Democratic Leadership should drop this fundraiser immediately and return any contributions collected. Kitzhaber has practiced backroom, closed-door politics for far too long. He and his legislative pals do not have the best interests of all Oregonians at heart. Kitzhaber should halt his ‘pay for play’ fundraising — or be ready to continue this conversation all the way to Election Day, when voters will cast their say in how our state should be run,” Bob Tiernan, Oregon Republican Party Chairman concluded.

Click here to see the complaint about Kitzhaber’s “pay for play” fundraising.
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